A visit to Montserrat is one of the most popular day trips from Barcelona. Many people come here to view this unique, jagged, sawtooth mountain range and its views over the stunning countryside. Montserrat truly is a beautiful place to visit. One of the best ways to get to the top are on your own two feet. Keep reading to learn more about hiking Montserrat.

Getting Here

Montserrat is easily accessible from Barcelona. The distance between Barcelona and Montserrat is 54 km. Most people take the train out to Montserrat, connecting with either the cable car or rack railway to get to the top. For details on how to do this, read our post How to Guide: Day Trip to Montserrat from Barcelona.

To start the hike, you need to get to Monistrol de Montserrat. From Plaça Espanya in Barcelona, take the R5 train to Monistrol de Montserrat. It takes approximately 1.5 hours to get to Monistrol.

Hiking Montserrat

Finding the Trail

Finding the trailhead can be a little tricky. We found very little information on the internet before attempting this hike, so we were in for all kinds of surprises. After asking for directions from several people in town, we eventually found our way to the start of the hike. Here’s how to get from the Monistrol de Montserrat train station to the trailhead.

Exit the train station and walk downhill towards Monistrol de Montserrat. Cross this bridge to the other side. The mountain range of Montserrat is looming in front of you. Eventually, you will standing way up there!

Once on the other side of the bridge, cross the street, passing between the two buildings in this photo.

Continue on the wide sidewalk into town.

The sidewalk ends at a small plaza in town. Walk through the plaza, keeping the mountains to your left. You will see a staircase off to the left. Take this to the road above you.

Red, white, and green painted stripes mark the trail all the way up to the monastery. As long as you follow these stripes you are going in the right direction. From the top of the staircase, turn left and walk along the road.

After walking approximately 100 meters on the road you will arrive at the trailhead. In this photo, it is the small, paved trail to the right.

On the concrete wall there is a sign identifying the official trail. From this point it takes about an hour and half to get to the monastery, a little less if you are a fast hiker.

Most of the trail is a rocky, dirt single track trail. Occasionally there will be small sets of stairs when the climb is a little steeper. It may come as no surprise that the trail is a steady, uphill climb all of the way to the top.

Another sign on the way up the mountain.

About a third of the way up to the monastery, the trail will split. Here you have two options. The easier option, staying on the Cami de les Aigues (GR 5), veers off to the left. This wide trail slowly meanders up the mountain. It ascends less quickly, making it easier, but it also takes five to ten minutes longer to get to the top. Or, you could take the Drecera dels Tres Quarts (GR 96). This trail is narrower, steeper, and more direct to the monastery.

We chose the GR 96, preferring the quicker option.

Here’s a view of the trail before the real climbing began.

Just before reaching the monastery, both trails link up again. From here, enjoy the view. You can walk out to the Santa Cova Chapel (you can see it in the photo below, way off in the distance), hoof it up higher to the monastery, or choose to take the Santa Cova funicular if you’re all out of energy.

Best Things to do on Montserrat

Getting Back Down

You have three options to get back down the mountain…retrace your steps and hike back down, take the cable car to Aeri de Montserrat (the cable car), or take the Cremallara (the rack railway) to Monistrol de Montserrat. From Aeri de Montserrat and Monistrol, take the R5 train back to Barcelona. Tickets can be purchased in the train station.

Print This Before You Go!

If you are planning on doing this hike, print this out beforehand or cache it on your phone so you can follow the photos to the trailhead.

Are you planning a trip to Barcelona? Read all of our articles about Barcelona, including more ideas for day trips, on ourSpain Travel Guide.

We just finished the hike and we were thrilled that we found this article as it made our trek so easy to find the trailhead. The pictures were the best and were very much appreciated. Incredible views and some steep parts but well with the hike. It’s the cable car down for us 😀. Thanks for posting this!

This was incredibly helpful, thank you! One further clarification for those reading, yes, follow the stripes to the top. If you see an “X,” that indicates the wrong direction. We made that mistake early on not realizing we weren’t just looking for the colored markers!

Indigo All Illusion Dark Blue Slim Jeans For 0da Skinny Relaxed Mankind Women's 7 Hey! I plan to take the R5 from Placa Espanya to Monistrol and then hike from there to the monastery like you’ve shown. I plan to stay a night, or two at the monastery and either continue to trek some of the Camino to Manresa or simply come back down. My question is, did you hike back down the way you came up or take another route down back to Barcelona? Let me know what you suggest. Thanks.

Slim Jeans Illusion Skinny Women's Mankind 7 For Indigo Dark 0da Relaxed All Blue Hi! This is such a great and detailed description. My husband and I are going to Barcelona this summer and I’d love to do this day hike. We’re thinking to do the r5 and then then hike you detail out. Once we get to the top, is there another hike to do that you mention? The one with really great views? I want to make sure I know where to go after this hike. Thanks!

Hi there, If I were to get off at Monistrol de Montserrat station and hike from there to the Montserrat, and then on my way back later, I decide to take either the cable car or the rack railway. To us either of these, would I need to buy a ticket before hand, or will I be able to purchase it from Montserrat?

I have now looked into hiking a trail. My questions are: 1) From the train station Aeri, to the Monastery is 1h30 long? 2) If i would like to consider hiking to Sant Jeroni(highest point), what must I know and prepare for? I have read about the cremallera, funicular, cable car(what are all these?) and then a up-and-down hike that takes 2h30 round-trip back to the Monastey? Please enlighten up on all that’s required for this to happen.

Hello Cyrus. It takes 1h30 to get to the monastery from the start of the trail, which is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the train station. So in total, it takes 1h45 to 2h to do the hike, depending on your speed. I don’t know if you have seen it, but we have a second post that describes the 3 cable cars/funiculars. The cable car and cremallera get you from the train stations in the valley to the top of the mountain. The funiculars are on top of the mountain and take you higher to the highest peaks. As for the Sant Jeroni hike, there are alternate ways to do the hike if the funicular is closed. Read this post for more details. It looks like you can hike directly there on an alternate trail or detour around the funicular (but this adds several hours to the hike). Cheers, Julie

Thank you for posting this information. It’s spot on! I did the hike on 14/9/17 and absolutely loved it. It was the highlight of my trip to Barcelona!

I recommend others considering this hike to also consider going all the way to Sant Jeroni, which goes up to 1,236 metres and offers stunning panoramic views (on a clear day, of course). I believe it’s the highest point in the area.

The beginning of the Sant Jeroni trail is found at the end of the road/pedestrianised way that runs below the monastery. When you reach the top of the steps which take you to the road/pedestrianised way, where all the tourists are swarming, turn left and walk past the funicular station on your left and the tourist information office on your right until you see the signpost for Sant Jeroni at the bottom of some steps. (The tourist information office can give you a free map with all the trails on it, including an alternative return route.) All you have to do is just go up and follow the signposts along the way.

In order to hike from the town of Montserrat up to the monastery, you do not need a “high level” of fitness. You need to be able to walk uphill for about two hours, while taking breaks. Most people of “average” fitness can do this hike. It is a dirt trail that is rocky in some places. Running shoes and hiking shoes are ideal (I did this hike in running shoes). I would not recommend sandals unless they are sandals designed for hiking.

Once you are up at the monastery, you then have the option to take the funiculars to higher viewpoints. We did not take the funiculars, choosing to walk to the viewpoints instead. Cheers, Julie

We made the hike up Montserrat today and your directions proved invaluable. Thank you so much for providing this step-by-step guide, allowing us to easily find the trail head. The hike was extremely difficult for me and my wife, an admitted pair of amateurs, but we made it to the top and enjoyed the sense of accomplishment that came with that.

This looks very detailed I am happy I found you! I will take this road with my mother and sister, as I love hiking so I get them to hike with me. But I had trouble understanding how exactly we can get to the top (to Montserrat)? So after a while the trail we follow will meet with the train’s path? -and after that we should just follow the rail’s route?

Very close to the top, the two trails will join up. This will then join a paved trail that leads to the monastery, Santa Cova Chapel, cable car, etc. It will be very obvious (with signs directing you to all of the numerous places you can visit) once you get to the top. – Julie

The train station was very small. I do not remember seeing a place to park here (although I wasn’t honestly paying attention to that at the time). I think your best bet is to look for parking in the town of Monistrol. On Google Maps I see people parked along some of the main roads, but I do not know if you need a parking pass. There is parking on top of Montserrat, however, parking there would eliminate doing the hike.

Sorry I don’t have more concrete info for you. If you do drive there, comment again and let us know how it went! I’m sure other readers would like to know. Cheers, Julie

This was SUPER helpful – I am so glad I found your article!! Sitting at the top of Montserrat now enjoying the vista and a beverage. The trail was almost empty, I cannot believe more people don’t hike it! Looking forward to getting more tips from you on future travels! Cheers!

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